A tech insider who has been hailed by The New Yorker for her “forceful critique” of Big Tech
describes what must be done to stop its erosion of democracy Over the past decades under the
cover of “innovation ” technology companies have successfully resisted regulation and have even
begun to seize power from governments themselves. Facial recognition firms track citizens for
police surveillance. Cryptocurrency has wiped out the personal savings of millions and
threatens the stability of the global financial system. Spyware companies sell digital
intelligence tools to anyone who can afford them. This new reality—where unregulated technology
has become a forceful instrument for autocrats around the world—is terrible news for
democracies and citizens. In The Tech Coup Marietje Schaake offers a behind-the-scenes
account of how technology companies crept into nearly every corner of our lives and our
governments. She takes us beyond the headlines to high-stakes meetings with human rights
defenders business leaders computer scientists and politicians to show how technologies—from
social media to artificial intelligence—have gone from being heralded as utopian to undermining
the pillars of our democracies. To reverse this existential power imbalance Schaake outlines
game-changing solutions to empower elected officials and citizens alike. Democratic leaders
can—and must—resist the influence of corporate lobbying and reinvent themselves as dynamic
flexible guardians of our digital world. Drawing on her experiences in the halls of the
European Parliament and among Silicon Valley insiders Schaake offers a frightening look at our
modern tech-obsessed world—and a clear-eyed view of how democracies can build a better future
before it is too late.
